government house. we will check that atmosphere on the streets of bangkok. and it has taken 18 years, but deal.o delivers a make strong gains in india. we will be live in mumbai. all of that and more on this edition of "asia edge." all, you have got the philippines stock down. the feeling in asia comes down to jobs in the u.s. fell.employment rate that is encouraging. seeing --

hong kong is up. dependence up at the close. up at the close. malaysia and singapore and thailand, all of them seeing gains. thailand is up currently by 1%. >> thailand will be facing early elections after the prime minister dissolves parliament or said she would do that. her decision came after the resigned enarty masse.

what is the latest? morning. those protesters are continuing on their weight to the government house. nine separate protest marches and thousands of people come supporters of the democratic party, and the protest opposition leaders saying the fact that yingluck dissolved parliament and called for fresh elections, it is simply not enough. this is something we're watching closely. the protesters have called for an unelected council in favor of the democratic process. they're not happy with yingluck and her family. her brother was a former prime minister of thailand. yingluck had offered to hold a national referendum. it comes as the protest movement deepens. the violence is something both sides want to avoid. that is what we will be watching closely today as they make their way across the city.

and terms of the scene on the ground, it is business as usual. traffic is moving better than it .ould on a normal weekday stay home and avoid the gridlock altogether. the question is what happens later today. the protesters say it is not enough that yingluck has decided to dissolve parliament and call elections. they want her to go. they want their own interim government to be installed. we will watch this story. >> we're getting these images coming from the government house where protesters are gathering. do we have any idea what will happen over the course of the rest of the day? >> it really is the unknown at this stage. protesters are contending on their way to the government house. the government has put back those barriers that they to go in last week to try to defuse some tension. restraint is the word here. yingluck says she does not want

to see violence used against the protesters. that would not be ideal for anyone involved. we have a fresh memory of a few years ago of the deadly anti- government protest happened right here in the center of bangkok. some of it was right on the street where we are right now. we will follow this today. and certainly with opposition movement says and how the government response -- response. has not saiduck she will resign. >> thank you. we will take a look at others'stories. official results from some of india's elections. in several polls. the vote will be held in may.

landmarkelebrating at deal that could add to the global economy. it is the first deal in the 18 year history of the wto. to help globalpt commerce and food shortages. several street firms are under investigation for the hiring. they have widening inquiring where children of high politician and clients are hired. the u.s. -- there was a big surplus in years.

here is a breakdown. >> that is right. almost close to five years. exports beat estimates. , less than expected, but still up. that was as traders where -- existing stock house. -- piles. there's global momentum. european companies and south korea and the u.s. -- when analysts look at the figure, they are slightly disappointed. it shows that china is not importing as much as you would like. a user the sense that perhaps domestic is soft.

really focus on the important part of the equation. they have no the export art. can they show that they are not as reliant on exports and that there is a favor for domestic consumption. cbi. begin with coming in at 3%. of course, it is within that target 3%. goodtic producers of services -- falling 1.4%. falling for the 21st month. that is the longest period of time since the 1997-1999 time period there. >> thank you, mia saini. >> a growing number of critics say -- is running out of steam. growth slowed.

let's go to tokyo. why was the gdp revised down? what does it mean for the prime minister's quality? -- policy? >> the two main factors causing it to go down was a stolen business investment and companies drawing down their inventories and looking for a pickup in consumption in the next couple of quarters. it was slow in the second minimum recent quarter -- and in the most recent quarter. to take up going forward to april as consumers buy more ahead. he wants companies to invest .ore in wages the government is saying they

want businesses to increase business investment. we do not see that happening at the moment. it was flat over the last couple of quarters. wages are still falling. that is where the focus is on now. certainly that is one of the concerns. another concern is the current account. next to and was for surplus, what was the reason behind this is deficit and is it is inspected to continue? -- expected to continue? trade deficit was much larger than expected. that is the main cause for the current account balance deficit in october. the current account is not expected to continue in deficit. the weaker yen, that is pushing up energy costs.

the trade deficit is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. even with the weaker yen, this'll push up export, but not enough to counter the effect of the higher cost of oil and gas. we are seeing an increase of consumer goods and the materials for housing and consumers to buy more. year, you willt see a lot more. that will push up the trade deficit even more. james in tokyo. thank you. program,g ahead on the the icing on the cake for the baking industry. more on that coming up later. and jpmorgan with a strong performance. when "asiaad to that edge" returns. ♪

.> breaking news an ipo is said to take place in everbright.r billionssaid to seek in hong kong dollars in shares sales. let's see what else is going on. positive news coming out of the u.s. on friday, helping wall street. john? five sessions of a row in decline in australia.

the big warning is qbe insurance. they're supposed to post a profit and came out with a loss. --igroup the australia benchmark is down. media.airfax there are issues about the regulation industry. these three stocks of the reason why the australia currency is in significant decline. look at australia. it is down. the philippines is marginally low. japan up 2%. strong.

and there is export trade. that is encouraging. clearly australia is suffering due to individual stocks instead of a sector theme. >> think you. let's get more with our guest, institutional strategy. welcome. let's kick off things with japan. call.as the why? is there may be an undercurrent or concern? >> i think part of it is concern and rightly so. the japanese have been working down the valley of their currency just in time for global export slowdown. rather than getting the big boost of experts that they expected by having undervalued currency, they would --

deficit start to flare up. wealthe not getting that affected the economy that they had hoped that they would get through the qe program. anergonomics calling for expert stimulus. we're not seeing that followed through. exporters that are taking a look at the weaker yen, what does this mean for 2014? >> it is difficult. the wealth effect that the japanese expected to come come through. the only place it is showing itself has been in the stock market. economic here you so far. they are not really a nation of shareholders. >> aren't they trying to change that? >> you are exactly right. it has been a stockmarket story. but they would like to do is

brought in that across the full economy and that means structural reforms. >> you're talking about the third arrow. there are a thousand arts of reform and one of the most increasesarts is wage . >> some of the automakers have come on board the last couple of days. they have agreed to push up the wage rates. economics.it is on as a private corporation, you can do the right thing for a certain time, but at the end of the day, you have to answer to shareholders. headline or sub headline of this third quarter revised gdp from japan is also the anticipation of the sales tax increase. ahab these companies falling back on inventories in anticipation that people will pare back buying after that

increase. it lacks you hit it right on the head. on one hand, they gave. with the other hand, they take away. they lay on the sales tax. that squelches consumption. what they need to do is become with theironsistent taxation policy and realtor reform instructional reforms in general. >> they are almost passing the buck on to japanese consumers. >> that has always been the issue. we hope that the consumer sort it out. i think they are on the right track. if the consumer is behind the policy is behind the government, you really want to get japan right. you do have some political will and national sense of purpose. it is a question of whether they will stop making the wrong decision. >> we have talked about japan, but there's a lot more to talk

about come including china, thailand, and all the rest. stick around. we will talk about that. the, investors welcoming latest election results from india. we are live in mumbai when we returned. ♪

>> we are coming to the start of

the trading day in india. we are 23 minutes away from that. results in india state elections. but get more from our correspondent. what do we know so far i guess? they are clearly in favor of the opposition party. with -- one isde another big winner as well. the most fascinating story of the mom is what happened in new

delhi -- of them all is what happened in new delhi. pe story really lies with a olitical party that is one year old. a leading movement against corruption. they're pretty much the estimated the congress. -- what does this mean? many argue that these were fought on local issues. this is a major embarrassment for the government. they can on record to say that the congress will have to interest that quite deeply on these results and with the outcome of this means. --t means you can kiss goodbye. what does this mean for the bjp?

a candidate was seen as business friendly reformer. the momentum is in the bjp's favor. perhaps you see them one step closer. at least they have a leader. the congress does not seem to be announcing who will be leading them. head. hit the nail on the they're looking for several answers. it has pretty much failed. not opened a -- in the four states. the congress find itself decimated.

-- more in the search. >> thank you. trading.check in on let's start off in australia. despite starting the monday trading day with a gains, we are entrenched in red. 1% down. losing 20%, the biggest decline since 2001. this is after forecasting a loss for the year. , we are seeing green. for the kospi.

we are taking a live look outside victoria harbour. asian stocks rising for the first time in four days after better than forecasted growth in the u.s. and of course, we're looking forward to the afternoons business in tokyo. we look at the latest on japan reopening after the break. we have a lot of data coming out of japan, including third quarter revised gdp coming in under expectations at 1.1%. he also have an exclusive interview. ♪

>> a four-day drop has given way to a rally across asia for stocks led by japan. and the prime minister changes tactics in thailand. and the icing on the cake -- a very sweet segment coming up. but first, let's get the latest from the markets with the john dawson. [indiscernible] dissolving parliament calling for special action to dissolve

violent protests. the philippines are down. loss.urance announced a heavily down by 21%. can you believe, and one day? -- in one day? , from a hold to a buy. china opened half of one percent higher. vietnam and jakarta and singapore straits of -- really, thailand is the one to watch. dissolution of our lament. >> -- the solution of

parliament. >> that is a big story. the wiki end, engine for exporters today. weak yen,k -- that engine for exporters today. >> consumer goods and computer services up by 3.2%, very strong indeed. and we go back to the chart and i can tell you the record yen performance. we go back again to some individual stocks in japan.

the week yen driving the -- the weak yen driving exporters. the question is when president of a -- president abe will be releasing the next phase. >> there is no end to abenomics. willyear, the cabinet approve the growth policy. despite backing from investors, not everyone is in favor of abenomics. some say that it will have harsh consequences for japan's quality-of-life. ourf it continues, maybe physical condition becomes

sound. but our life will be terrible. exit.is no but he believes that he will win the legislative battles he needs to went to reinvigorate the economy. >> we will win every battle, but we don't think that he needs to be there. we think some battles are far more part of than others and he has the clinical capital to use to win the battles -- the political capital to use to win the battles he needs to. tpp is properly implement it in japan, it could unleash tremendous creative forces in industry. it could be a truman this step forward for the economy to see it open up along -- it could be a tremendous opportunity for the economy to see it open up.

>> that is today's word on japan. today, thailand is to phase early elections after the prime minister dissolved parliament and her testers returned to the street. what is the atmosphere like now? in central bangkok today, life goes on as business as usual. people are at work. commerce is happening. and life is moving forward. if you go near the government areas of the city where mena -- where many of the main offices are located, it is a different scene. he have thousands of protesters continuing their march toward the government house right now. 19 different protest marches in their way to the government house, even as the prime minister this morning dissolved the country's parliament and called for fresh elections. it is a bid to defuse elections

that have been escalating over the past month. remember, this all started about a month ago as those opposition members and supporters decided to protest against the controversial amnesty law which would have granted amnesty to y luk's brother, the former prime minister of the country who was a controversial figure. that thesters say decision to dissolve government and call for a national referendum is not enough. they want to rid the country of the influence of toxins. it is not clear how they would do so. they called for an unelected council to do just that. we have opposition lawmakers quitting on sunday. the democratic party opposition with lawmakers taking to the streets to add their support of this campaign. an election must happen in time and within 45 to 60 days. it is anyone's guess what happens today. we have heard from both sides, the prime minister, the government and the opposition,

that they want to avoid violence. they will use clubs and batons instead of rubber bullets, for example here in the military remain in mum. reporting saying they have sent a peaceful resolution. we will stay on top of the very latest in bangkok. >> live for us in bangkok. thanks. >> the wto, the wto, is celebrating a landmark event could add a trillion dollars to the world economy. and a latin american block led by cuba dropping the opposition. analysts say that it will do more to salvage the doha round of talks. >> we did set out to basically

basically get an agreement among all of us since 2001 or even earlier in 1995. but we have not been able to get an agreement. that is the first part of the significance. the second is that the package, even though it is small, it is ambitious in that it is basically -- it basically delivers on part of the lbc's and the developing economies and the agreement that was reached. i think it will set a very good traction for the purpose of moving along and ahead on the doha development agenda. so this is not so bad. >> let's cross lines over to jakarta for reaction to this deal. >> trade ministers and representatives from the 159 member world trade organization did finally agreed to the so- called ali package -- so-called

bali package. it could boost economic output by $1 trillion. the biggest element of the woulde of the agreement make it easier and cheaper to move goods around the world by cutting red tape and improving customs procedures. streamlined traffic of goods and services at the borders of many economies and that will help boost trade in all countries. besides pushing trade, it will reduce reduction by eliminating opportunities for customs officials to extract drives to get goods across borders. the united states trade theysentative's estimate will reduce costs for developed countries by 10% and developing countries will save 15%. and for every 1% in cost reduction, worldwide income increases by more than 40 -- more than 40 billion u.s. dollars.

it is designed to safeguard food security programs and developing countries. the package itself is the first agreement successfully reached after a series of wto meetings failed. back to you in hong kong. >> thank you very much. let's get a roundup of the day's big corporate stories. company headlines -- bitcoin lost a fifth of its value after baidu stopped taking the virtual money. that comes after the central ned. ban

it said that it is not currency with real meaning and cannot enjoy the same legal status. suntory beverages says it will take a break from m&a for 12 months. it wants to boost its current businesses to catch up with bigger rival coke. it's next focus will be on vietnam and indonesia. most -- qbeng the is plunging the most in 12 years. the company now sees a loss of $215 million. analysts had forecast a profit of over $1 billion. premiums in north america fell 16% in the first half.

>> the global bakery market will reach more than $400 billion by 2017. the asia-pacific is enjoying perhaps the highest annual growth here as well. martha swift, thank you for joining us. what brings you to this part of the world? >> i am exploring the asian market. i've been to singapore before and i have come to hong kong for the first time. i absolutely love it. and i think this is a big growth area for cupcakes and cakes, such as i have done in london. >> there is a market -- there is a marked suite to tear. >> -- there is a marked sweet tooth. lessthink perhaps there is of a sweet tooth here then we do in england, but they enjoy the

kind of things that i make in my bakery and adapting to local flavors and types of cupcakes that we could develop your and have it goes -- develop here and how it goes. >> and the rents here. >> huge. >> when do you hope -- what is the timeline? >> i don't know. this is an early trip. i've come out here to explore things. and research local cake shops. i like to try cakes wherever i go all over the world. what was the cake saying -- the cake scene there? >> in singapore, there is more there than here.

there i sing is -- there is icing that is different that you can make amazing creative's -- amazing creations out of. this is the noaa flavor. but you can see the potential for decorations which is -- this is the vanilla flavor. but you can see the potential for decorations which is visually appealing. about thelove buttercream is the zero calories. >> yes, magical cupcakes. is it 2000 cupcakes a week in london? you have three stores. >> yes. on average. sometimes more, sometimes less. around big holidays, valentine's day, thanksgiving, christmas, it all increases. [laughter] >> i'm sorry for distracting the

interview. this is absolutely delicious. delicious as it looks beautiful. >> that is what we try to do. thank you. [laughter] >> martha, thank you so much. martha from primrose bakery in london. coming up, we have thailand in the midst of dissolving parliament. we will have more analysis on the rising tensions after this very short break.

>> welcome back. this is a story developing over the last hour. the prime minister of thailand dissolving parliament and early elections being called. in essence, he is doing with the

protesters wanted him to do, siphon the elections. >> the democrats are anything but democratic. and they want this committee of good citizens, which a sickly means they want their cronies and power. so it is really a swap of one set of culprits for the other. it is a mistake to dissolve the parliament. but she's got a do it she's got to do. do -- whatwhat she she should do is these are the elections and this is a democracy. diminish, we [indiscernible] >> part of the concern is that the schindler family has held control of this government and , more thee democracy concern is getting the family out of power. so if the structure is there that supports this family, which is democracy, that is what they

are willing to do. >> i understand that and i'm very some pathetic. however, that said, there were elections and we elected a prime minister. so you either abide by those elections and tried to win -- but understanding completely the tools and the halls of power are dominated by one party, but welcome to the real world. -- that is democracy across the west indies and the emerging markets. i think the implications for investors is to watch that space and be ready to enter that market as it sells off because the economy is in pretty good shape. even though there are claims of economic mismanagement, in reality, it is on the rebound again, it hasime been a trade based on a local discount. when you see that political discount, you step in. it sounds ms. -- it sounds mercenary, don't get me wrong, but you have to be able to take advantage of this dislocation.

>> the foundation for asia. encouraged bylly it. i still think there is a very fragile u.s. economy, but that is good for risk there is room for improvement. we have very low inflation but that is also picking up a little bit the issue really is that we are shutting to see synchronized industrial production across the g-three and the g-four. that is good news not only for the west. ask as we wrap up 2013 and look the surprisehat is you saw for this year? >> the big surprise was how negative all the investors were throughout the year pin this market climbed a wall of worry and now we have clinical concerns. we have air defense and id zones. will -- my guess is,

for 2014, risk assets will continue to get a bid and we will see the markets go up. it will be a volatile and scary ride. is coming the horse up and you guys at j.p. morgan -- it is really quite contrary. healthy global economy. optimism in equities. select event fixed income. emerging market differentiation. it is your strategy. >> what you need to do when you have such a big district network is keep it tebow. but some acronyms and place a people remember. and i think it was mostly for me because it is easy for me. ultimately, it is about bird brains like myself. i think they are all relatively important. at the end of the day, what we are recommending is these markets and economies to john's point are improving and you have to continue to take that risk to step back into risk assets. >> we have the u.s., four months average of up to hundred

thousand jobs, right? what about europe? demand is picking up in europe as well and that helps boost to the chinese export figures over the weekend. what does it look like in 2014? >> european is an issue. you don't have a european problem. you have different pockets of debt. we have a confederation issue. we need to see more union, fiscal banking, etc., monetary, and ultimately druggy has the last thing card on the table -- lastately draghi has the laying card on the table. card on theing table. you will be the last card to follow and then these orchids start to pick up. >> that is when we will get you back on again. >> i've been wrong many times. [laughter] >> thank you so much for joining us.

>> coming up, india's ruling party loses big as voters opt for a leadership change. >> we are headed to mumbai live next.

>> welcome back. trading has begun in india after the election wins for opposition. how are the markets digesting this? >> they have given the thumbs- up. they are clapping loudly for the kind of result that we have seen from the elections. we have surpassed all the historic levels of both these indices have seen.

we have broken the last 2008 to january high. from there from now, but a good gain of over 1.5%. november had a record high of 21,321. we have crossed that level. the point is we have passed all- time highs. the main leading opposition expensing a clean sweep. is 4-0 as far as the scorecard is concerned. this is something that both the domestic investors as well as the foreign investors have actually been wanting and talking about and are reacting positively to that. there is a very clear verdict -- thereindian voters

will are lovely be a lot more certainty. but as for now, after the exit polls, it is a huge bump up opening for the markets. larger concerns about the economy and monetary policy and the fomc, that will take place later this month and it will begin to impact the markets. back to you. on india.s thailand, theto prime minister dissolving parliament after protesters returned to the streets. this is the scene we had earlier outside of a government house. this came hours after we had opposition mps resign en masse from parliament itself. the situation is fluid there at the moment.

>> by royal decree, 45 to 60 days is when we will expect the next election. that is it from us.

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